NEW DELHI : India’s higher education enrolment reached a record 4.5 crore (45 million) in 2023-24, with women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) continuing to grow, according to the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24 released by the Union Ministry of Education on Wednesday.
AISHE, the ministry’s annual survey of higher education institutions, compiles official data on enrolment, faculty, infrastructure and finances to support policy planning and monitor trends in the sector. The ministry also released the pending AISHE reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24, the first since the 2021-22 report published in December 2022.
The report shows that women now outnumber men in science programmes across higher education. Total enrolment in science stands at 54.6 lakh, with 54.6% being women. At the undergraduate level, science enrolment is 45.68 lakh, of which 53.4% are female. Women’s representation is even higher at the postgraduate level, where 61.4% of the 8.63 lakh students enrolled are women. At the PhD level, science enrolment stands at 80,284, with women accounting for 53.4% of research scholars.
Across all STEM disciplines—which include science (including mathematics) and engineering & technology—total enrolment stands at 1.02 crore students. Of these, 57.06 lakh are men and 44.83 lakh are women, indicating that while men continue to outnumber women in STEM overall, women have established a clear majority in science programmes.
The survey also highlights persistent gender disparities among faculty. Nationally, there are 82 female teachers for every 100 male teachers in higher education. Among Scheduled Castes (SC), the ratio is 66 women per 100 men, while it is 87 for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 79 for Other Backward Classes (OBC). Among Muslim minorities, there are 65 female teachers per 100 male teachers, whereas teachers from other minority communities have a much higher ratio of 166 women per 100 men. In the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category, there are 65 female teachers for every 100 male teachers, reflecting continued gaps in faculty representation across several groups.
